Household-expense-recording apparatus



p...... .wyj14.19zsi UNITED STATES PATENTVOFFICE.

momma sonao'rn, or immune, sasxarcnnwm, CANADA.

HOUSEHOLD EXPENSE-RECOBLDING APPABATTIS.

Application filed December 15, 1923. Serial No. 881,026. I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMAN,R.. SCHROTH,

a subject of the King o f'Grea't Britain, residing at Melville, in the Province ofSaskatchewan and Dominion of Canada, have invented new and useful Improvements in Household- Expense-Recording Apparatus, of which the following is aspecification.

The object'of my said invention isthe provision of an apparatus by the use of which the amounts of money expended by a family for 'difierentpurposes may be readily ascertained at the .end of a predetermined pe'riod of time, say one month, so that, the

expenditures for some purposes, particularly entertainment purposes, may be emphasized with a view to bringing about the practice of economy, 3

To the attainment invention consists in the improvement as hereinafter described and definitely claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification Figure 1 is a plan view of the casing comprised in my novel apparatus.

Figure 2 is a section taken through said ,casing in the plane indicated by theline '2 2 of Figure 1.

- casing body 1 and a cover- 2, the said cover 2 being removable 'or adapted to be *0 ened at the end of a predetermined @p'erio say one month, so that access may be readily had to the contents of compartments 3 in the casing body 1. Twelve of the said compartments are comprised inthe illustrated em-.

bodiment, but it is obvious that any number of compartments may be employed in the discretion of the manufacturer. It is also to be understood that when deemed expedient each compartment 3 is to bear a designation appropriate to its particular use. For instance four of the compartments will hear of the foregoing,

prec ent to use designations of the members of a family,

father, mother, son and daughter, the said compartments being designed to receive monetary units indicating the ersonal' expenditures of the members 0 Pa family.

Other compartments will'bear designations covering family expenditure such as Profit from chickens, Groceries, Meat, Shows, Automobile, Wages, Chicken expense and Miscellaneous.

The cover 2 is designed to bear inscriptions similar to those just ascribed to the casing body 1 or rather to the compartments 3 thereof, and it will also benoted that the cover 2 is provided with slots 4 for the passage of monetary units, there bemg one slot 4 for each compartment.

The monetary units shown in detail in Figure 3 consist by preference of twenty circular metallic pieces of, the denomination 1, twenty circular ieces of the denomination 5c, twenty circu ar pieces of the denomination 1095, twenty circular pieces of the denomination 25 an twenty circular ieces of the denomination together wit ten rectangular pieces of the denomination of I one dollar, ten rectangular pieces of the denomination of two dollars, five rectangular pieces of the denomination of fi've dollars, and five rectangular pieces of the denomination of ten dollars. These monetary units may, of couse,be varied in number .as experience teaches, and I would also have it understood that the circular units may be varied in v diameter, and the rectangular units may be varied infsize as occasion demands.

The apparatus also comprises a drawer compartmentb, a drawer-6 removabl arranged therein, and a holder or rack for monthly record cards 8, it being understood that the record cards 8 are removably arranged, in the holder or rack 7, and that the record cards willcorres end in number to the compartments 3, an that there will be a record card :8 bearing sponding-inscrlption for each compartment 3. For instance one record card will beer at its headthe inscri tion Mr. Doe, and each of the record cards will bear on its face below the designati'nginscri tion properly designated spaces for the an ry of the exenses of each month, and a space at the ower end of the face for the yearly totalh When desired the drawer compartment 5 may be'comprised in the casing body 1 as an appropriate or corre- T illustrated so that the apparatus as a whole may be conveniently handled as a unit, and

. tion.

partment therein one of the one dollars units it will also be understood that the apparatus as a whole may be supported-in any manner compatible with the purpose of my inven- In the practical use of my novel apparatus when the housewife expends say one dollar for meat it is her province to open the drawer 6 and take from the proper com and it is also her province to drop the said monetary unit through the slot 4 in communication with the compartment in the casing body appropriated tomcat expenditures.

So also whenany one ofthe members of the family expends 50 for attendance at a show, it is the province 'ofthat member of the family to remove one of the 50 monetary units from the proper compartment in the drawer 6" and deposit the said monetary unit throughthe slot4 complementary to'the compartment 3.for'show expenditures, and so on." .Thus at the end of a predetermined period, say one month, it may be readily ascertained just how, much money has been expended for the purposes for which money is used in the running of a family. This is done by counting the monetary units in the several compartments 3, one compartment at a time and then .the amount of the expenditures during the month can be entered on the card 7 appropriated to the particular kind of expenditure. In this way by a mode of procedure that is largely mechanical a family is able to ascertain at the end ofthe month just howmuch money is ex ended for each of the purposes enumerate and where money is paid out and money is received in connection with some activity such as the keeping of chickens, the money received and the money paid out may be readily .com ared so as to arrive at the profit or the dbficit as the case may be.

An important result following from the use of my novel apparatus residesin the fact that the apparatus serves to emphasize the expenditureof undue amounts of money for, different things such as shows, automo- It will also be apparent that by referring .to and comparing the several cards 7, the amounts of money spent indifferent months for particular purposes may be readily ascertainedr I Notwithstanding the practical advantages ascribed to my novel apparatus it will be manifest from the foregoing that the apparatus is simple and inexpensive in construction, is adapted to be used to advantage by the illiterate as well as by the. intelligent persons, and that when desired the apparatus may be embellished so as to enhance rather than detract from the neat appear- .which the apparatus is located. a

I have entered into 'a detailed description of the construction and relativearrangement of the parts embraced in the present and preferred embodiment of my invention in order to impart a full, clear and exact understanding of the said embodiment. I do notdesire, however, to be understood as confining myself to the specific construction and relative arrangement of parts inasmuch as in the future practice of the invention various changes and modifications may be made such as fall within the scope of my invention as defined in my appended claim.

Havin described my invention, what- I claim an desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

- A. household expense recording apparatus comprising a receptacle having appropriately designated compartments for expenditures for different pur oses, and groups of monetary units of di erent denominations adapted to be handled one by one and to' be placed one'by one in different compartments of the receptacle incident to the exance of the kitchen or other apartment 1n penditure of a particular sum of money for the particular purpose represented by the compartment.

In-testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

HERMAN RIGHARD SCHR'OT'H. 

